Pneumatic-despatch-tube system.



No. 68|,4l4. Patented Aug. 27, I901. v

' E. A. FORDYCE.

PNEUMATIC DESPATGH TUBE SYSTEM.

(Application filed Feb. 4, 1901.) (No Model.) 3 Shasta-Sheet I.

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No. 68l,4l4. Patented Aug. 27, l90l. E. A. FOBDYCE.

PNEUMATIC DESPATGH TUBE SYSTEM.

(Application filed Feb. 4, 1901.)

(lo llodol.) 3 Shanta-Shut 2.

No. 68l,4l4. Patented Aug. 27, I90l. E. A. FUBDYGE.

PNEUMATIC DESPATOH TUBE SYSTEM.

(Application mod Fab. 4, 1901.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDMOND A. FORDYCE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO ARTHUR S. TEMPLE,TRUSTEE, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

PNEUMATlC-DESPATCH-TUBE SYSTEM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 681,414, dated August27, 1901. Application filed February 4, 1901. Serial No. 45,957. (Nomodel.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDMOND A. FORDYOE,

of Chicago, Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Pneumatic- Despatch-Tube Systems, of which the following is aspecification. "My invention relates to pneumatic des'patch-tubeapparatus such as is employed in large stores and similar commercialhouses for transmitting cash and small parcels by pneumatic agencybetween a main cashiers office and a number of outlying salesmensstations located throughout the building; and my invention is morespecifically directed to certain improvements in sending-terminals foruse at the cashiers station, the object of said improvements being toefiect the admission of carriers to the system at such point in asimple, expeditious, and efficient manner, and without any impairment ofthe aircurrent traversing the system through leakage of said current inthe operation of inserting the carrier.

To these ends my invention consists in a sending-terminal provided witha double sealing-chamber, whereby the carrier is introduced into theterminal and the latter is closed and sealed in rear of the carrierbefore the air-current is made effective upon the latter, all ashereinafter described, and more particularly set forth in the appendedclaims.

My invention in its preferred form is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevational view, some what inthe nature of a diagram, of a pneumatic-despatch system having myinvention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail, partly incentral vertical section broken away, of a sending-terminal embodying mypresent invention for use at the cashiers station and adapted to beconnected to a downwardly-extending sending-tube; and Fig. 3 is asimilar view showing the same terminal adapted for connection with anupwardly-extending sending-tube.

My invention is herein shown as applied to a combination pressure andvacuum system in which the carrier-transmitting tubes extending betweenthe cashiers office and the forcing device, (designated by 9.) To thesuction side of this blower is connected a short section of tube 10,extending up and beneath the cashiers desk and having a closed end at11. similar section of tube 12 also extends up and beneath the cashiersdesk and has a similaroclosed end 13.

14 designates as an entirety my improved From the pressure side of theblower a form of sending-terminal, one leg of which is I,

connected with the tube 12, as shown in Fig.

1, and the other leg of which connects with a downwardly-extendingcarrier-conveying tube 15, leading from the cashiers station to thesalesmans station 8.

From the latter station extends anothercarrier-conveying tube 16, thelatter leading back to the cashiers station and terminating at thelatter station in an ordinary form of upward-discharge terminal 17.

At 18 is indicated another sending-terminal for the cashiers station,this terminal being similar in all respects to the terminal 14:, exceptthat it is adapted to communicate, through a semicircular section oftube 18, with an upwardly-extending sending-tube 19, which leadsoverhead to a point above the salesmans desk 7, terminating at such deskin an open-ended downwardly-discharging tube-section 20, integral withthe tube 19. Another carrier-conveying tube2l extends from such stationback to the cashiers desk, terminating in an ordinary form of downwardlydischarging receiving -terminal 22. The tubes 16 and '21 are in freecommunication with the suction-tube 10, connected with the blowerthrough the receiving-terminals 17 and 22, respectively, by means ofshort sections of tubing 23 and 24, intermediate said terminals and thesuction-tube 10.

The blower being set in operation, a current of air under gradually-dimin ishing pressure is caused to flow through the tube-section 12,through the terminals 14 and 18, and thence through the sending-tubes 15and 19 to the substations 8 and 7, respectively. A carrier inserted inthe terminal 14 or 18 will be impelled by the pressure of theair-current in its rear to the station 8 or 7, as the case may be. Thesending side of the system relatively to the cashiers station operates,therefore, on the plenum or pressure principle. On the other hand, acarrier inserted in the open end of tube 16 or 21 will be drawn to thecashiers station by reason of the graduallyincreasing suction exertedthereon through pipes 16 or 21 and the suction-tube 1.0, connected withthe suction "side of the blower. This side of the system thereforeoperates on the vacuum principle.

Figs. 2 and 3 illustrate in detail the construction of thesending-terminals 14 and 18, respectively, employed at the cashiersstation. Referring to the construction of said terminals in detail, 25designates a box constituting a sealing-chamber, which may convenientlybe secured to the under side of the cashiers desk. In the bottom of thebox 25 are secured a pair of short parallel tube-sections 26 and 27, thelower ends of which are secured to the top of another closed box orsealing-chamber 28, similar in construction and general purpose to thebox 25. In the bottom of the box 28 is secured theupwardlyextending endof the conveying-tube 15 of the system and also a short section oftubing 29, which places the box 28 in free communication with thepressure-tube 12. A bellshaped receiver 30 is set in and through thedesk and the upper surface of the box 25, and its lower end is closed byan ordinary springactuated flap-valve 31. This receiver 30 is located indirect vertical alinement with the tube-section 27 and the sending-tube15 of the system, while the tube-section 26 is arranged in directvertical alinement with the short connecting-section 29, leading to thepressuretube 12. The lower ends of the tube-sections 26 and 27, whichcommunicate with the sealing-chamber 28, are closed by valves 32 and 33,respectively, these valves being connected so as to open and closetogether and so constructed and adjusted with reference to the action ofthe air current upon them that they will normally remain closed, but areso nearly balanced that the gravity impact of a'carrier on the upperface of valve 33 will overcome their normal tendency to remain closedand will open the same simultaneously, thus permitting the carrier topass through the chamber 28 into the sending-tube 15 and at the sametime switching or shuntchamber 28 to a longer passage across one end ofsaid chamber, up through tube-section 26, through the upper chamber 25,down through tube-section 27, and across the other end of chamber 28.The simultaneous opening and closing of the valves 32 and 33 is effectedby the simple connecting means shown in the drawings, the sameconsisting of a bifurcated arm 34, connected to the heel ofvalve 33,engaging the vertical stem 35 of valve 32 between a pair of adjustablecollars 36, screwed on the latter, the valve-stem 35 being suitablyguided in a pair of grids or spiders 36 and 37. The twosending-terminals 14: and 18 are practically alike in all constructionaldetails, the former being adapted for use as a downward-sending terminaland the latter being employed as an upward-sending terminal. WVhere theexigencies of space require or other considerations make desirable aconnection between the pressuretube and the terminal at some other pointthan through the base or bottom thereof, the pressure-tube connection 29may be provided with an elbow 29 and caused to enter the sealing-box 28through one side thereof, as shown in Fig. 3.

Such an arrangement is the equivalent of that shown in Fig. 2 and makesno appreciable difference in the operation or efficiency of the terminalas a whole.

The operation and advantages possessed by the improved form ofsendingterminal hereinabove described, may be briefly set forth asfollows: The course of the air-current through said terminal both whenthe latter is idle and when a carrier is being transmitted has alreadybeen pointed out. It

while the carrier is being inserted through the receiver 30 and itsvalve 3l-and also permit the carrier to enter the terminal freely andwithout encountering the resistance of the air-current. I have found byrepeated experiments that the carrier enters this terminal with markedease and freedom from lateral friction caused by the sidewise pressureor suction of the impelling-current which is common in all forms ofsending-terminals at present in use with which I am acquainted. Theinstant the carrier by its gravitation effect has struck the valve 33,thereby opening said valve and the connected valve 32, the aircurrent isshunted, as hereinbefore described, so as to bear with full forceagainst the rear of the carrier, thereby insuring its clearance of theterminal and its prompt transmission to its destination. After thecarrier has fully cleared the chamber 28 and has entered the sendingtube 15 or the curved extension 18 thereof, Fig. 3, the connected valves32 and 33 close automatically and the propelling current is thereby cutout of the upper portion of the terminal and finds its way from tube 29to tube 15 directly through the lower sealing-chamber 28.

I claim as my invention 1. Asending-terminal for usein pneumatictubesystems, comprising in combination a sealing-chamber communicating atits lower end with the air-pressure and carrier-sending tubes of thesystem, through which sealiug-chamber the propelling air-currentnormally passes, a second sealing-chamber located above andcommunicating with the top of said first-named sealing-chamber by twinpassages, connected valves normally closing said passages and permittingthe insertion of a carrier into and through the upper sealingchamberWithout effect upon the air-current, said carrier acting later to opensaid connected valves and thereby shunt the propelling-current upthrough the upper sealingchamber and in rear of the carrier beingtransmitted, substantially as described.

2. A sending-terminal for usein pneumatictube systems, comprising incombination upper and lower sealing-chambers,tube-sections connectingsaid chambers near their opposite ends, a valved receiver in the top ofthe upper chamber and in alinement with one of said connectingtube-sections, a pressuretube and a carrier-conveying tube communicating with the bottom of the lower sealingchamber and in alinementwith said connecting-tubes, and connected valves normally closing thecommunication of said tube-sections with the lower sealing-chamber, saidvalves normally tending to confine the passage of the propellingair-current to and through the lower sealing-chamber, but, on beingopened by the impact of the carrier, acting to shunt the air-current upthrough the upper sealing-chamber and in rear of the carrier,substantially as described.

3. The herein-described sending-terminal for pneumatic-tube systems, thesame comprising the upper and lower sealing-chambers 25 and 28respectively, the latter being connected through its bottom wall withthe airpressure and carrier sending tubes of the system, a valvedreceiver in the top of the upper chamber, connecting-tubes 26 and 27between said sealing-chambers, the receiver, connecting-tube 27, andcarrier-sending tube being all located in verticalalinement, and theconnected valves 32 and 33 normally closing the lower ends oftube-sections 26 and 27 respectively, whereby the normal passage of thepropelling-current, when the terminal is idle, is through the lowerchamber 28, but on the passage of a carrier through said terminal theair-current is shunted so as to fiow through the upper chamber 25 andbecome effective on the rear of the carrier, substan-' tially asdescribed.

EDMOND A. FORDYCE.

WVitnesses:

SAMUEL N. POND, FREDERICK O. GOODWINl

